Being an Artist

I continue to think about this idea of being an artist. I look everywhere for inspiration–ideas are never an issue. But, feeling inspired to keep going, to keep making art, that can be a challenge. I’ve embraced the Artist Date, thank you Julie Cameron for The Artist’s Way. So much good has come into my experience as a writer and artist because of that book and I still prefer the original to the anniversary edition.

I think about my on again/off again love affair with Joan Didion. Really, just pick any essay by Didion. So much depth, so much meaning. The choice of construction and words and tone and style. And, for different effect, but the same reasoning, read Virginia Woolf–Mrs. Dalloway or To the Lighthouse or…anything–such construction and words and tone and style. I try to be inspired as I teach others to become better writers. The work is there’s really. My part is only the suggestion of construction and words and tone and style. And, my work is then informed by those I help.

In the end, for me, it seems to come to the same place over and over. I write what comes to me. I create the characters who desire creation. I continue to revise and edit and think and revise some more while the story is in progress. And, then, it is over, it is done. And, then, I question everything all over, but it’s done, it’s over, it’s too late, really, to change anything. So, all that remains is to move on to the next project, the next character, the next student, the next inspirational moment that makes breathing worthwhile.